THE ICONIC

About

THE ICONIC is Australia and New Zealand’s leading lifestyle retailer, home to fashion, sports, kids and beauty. Since 2011, it has defined the future of retail by creating a seamless and inspiring shopping experience for its customers.

Sustainability Efforts

THE ICONIC recognises the responsibility to fully understand the social and environmental impacts of our organisation for the better of all communities involved. THE ICONIC’s strategy has been collaboratively developed by team members from varying departments, tenures and roles – including their CEO and Executive team. Their sustainability strategy is based on four pillars:

1. Ethical Sourcing:

THE ICONIC’s own brands are produced in 48 independent supplying factories in China (34), India (10), Bangladesh (3) and Australia (1). Over 8,300 people are employed in those locations, 50% of which are female. They hold regular third-party audits covering areas of their Code of Conduct with their first-tier supplying factories, which all involve interviews with production workers. THE ICONIC’s current percentage of more sustainable materials, including organic cotton, linen and Leather Working Group certified leather, in their own-brand apparel and accessories is growing steadily with an average of around 18.20% of units containing one or more sustainable material as of quarter four (Q4), 2020. THE ICONIC requires any animal materials used in private label styles or partner brands’ styles to strictly be a by-product of the food industry. THE ICONIC does not purchase, nor sell items that use real animal fur of any kind including exotic skins or hair.

2. The Environment

THE ICONIC have performed their own carbon footprint analysis and, informed by these results, have started addressing and further analysing their biggest impacts. To reduce emissions from inbound transportation, they have increased sea shipment consolidations and introduced a hybrid shipping solution resulting in a 29% reduction in overall CO₂ emissions.

3. Community

THE ICONIC contributes to charitable organisations as a part of their sustainability initiatives or to respond to a crisis which has impacted the community. Thread Together redistributes surplus clothing to people in situations of crisis. To date, THE ICONIC has donated over 89,000 items to this organisation, helping 22,320 people access new clothing. Other organisations include Giving Made Easy and the Bushfire Relief Plan.

4. Diversity, Inclusion and Body Positivity

THE ICONIC has committed to delivering their first Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) following its commencement in 2020. They have introduced size extensions in both our private label and branded suppliers and brought onboard more First Nations identifying brands, with two already within their assortment and another four confirmed for launch from the beginning of 2021. The team’s daily commitment to diversity in model casting has seen their talent come from a pool that encompasses a broad range of sizes, cultural backgrounds and differently-abled people.